Theodoe eiiedigee



(No Model.)

T. RUEDIGBR.

WIRE FENCE GATE.

No. 350,082. Patented Sept. 28, 1886.

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EINITED STATES PATENT "FICEQ THEODOR RUEDIGER, OF CHASKA, MINXESOTA.

WIRE-FENCE GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,082, dated September 28, 1886.

Application filed July 3, 1886.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Titnonon RLTEDIGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at (has ha, in the county of Carver and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in \Vire-Fence Gates, of which the following is a specification.

For the purpose of convenience in entering or for passing through fields inclosed by wire fences, it is necessary to so construct the latter as to provide gateways or passages at various places; and to this end the wires ofsuch fences have been attached to a vertical bar and the latter connected with a post by means of devices that allow convenient detachment of said bar when required.

My invention pertains to an improvement in the devices for thus detachably connecting such bar to the post; and it consists in the construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wire fence with my invention applied to form a gate, which is shown locked. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same, the gate being unlocked. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the locking devices detached. Figs. 1 and 5 are views corresponding to l and 2, and representing a modification.

I will first describe the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3. I The letters A and 13 indicate two posts, which maybe set at the usual or any preferred distance apart. Those wires, 0, which extend in one direction are attached to post A, and those, D, which form the gate are attached to the other post, I and to a vertical bar, 1C. The wires D and bar E therefore constitute the gate proper. The means or devices I employ for detachably connecting this bar to post A embody my invention. Said devices consist, mainly, of the curved lever F and the curved catch G. The said curved lever F is pivoted at its angle to the front of the post A, and provided with an aperture, (1, at the end of its shorter arm. The catch G is a flat metal plate secured in horizontal position to the middle portion of bar 16. The front end of the catch is curved downward and provided with a lateral pin, 0, that is adapted to enter the hole a in lever F.

Serial No. 207,081. (X0 model.)

To lock the catch G to lever F, the pin 0 is inserted in the hole a in the latter, as shown in Fig. 2. Then to lock the gate the lever is turned on its pivotin the direction indicated by arrow in Fig. 2 until it reaches the position shown in Fig. 1, when, the point, a c, of engagement of catch and lever being below the fulcrum of the latter, the parts remain selflocked, and the gate 1) E is held stretched taut and closed. To unlock and release the gate the lever F is reversed-that is to say, turned backward, as per arrow in Fig. 1, to the position shown-in Fig. 2, when the catch may be easily disengaged from thelever. To take up slack in the gate-wires D, I employ a wedge,

H, which is inserted between bar F and the bent inner end of catch G. To permit adj ustment of the latter, it is slotted and secured to the bar by screws (1.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I show a modification. The lever F is secured vertically to the post A by screw-eyes or other suitable bearings, in which it is free to rotate on its axis. Its up per end is bent to form a crank-handle, and the lower end bent laterally and provided with an aperture to receive the catch G, whose outer end is bent laterally inward and also downward. The catch is forged in one piece with or otherwise permanently attached to a plate, f,whieh is slotted to receive screws that secure it to the gate-bar E. This construction and means of attachment permit adjustment of the catch to take up slack. The adjustment is made by means of a nut, H, applied to the threaded inner end of the catch, as shown.

It will be seen that by turning the cranle lever F from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. i the lock is effected, on the same principle and by essentially the same operation as in the case of the devices illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 8, before described. I

thus provide cheap and efficient means or devices for securing and releasing a section of a wire fence, so that it maybe conveniently used as a gate.

hat I claim is 1. The combination of the catch G, attached to the gate-bar E in horizontal position, and having its outer end curved and provided with the pin 0, with the lever pivoted to the post, and having its shorter arm curved and prm vided with an aperture adapted to receive said for securing it to the bar, and a wedge for adpin, all as shown and described, 'whereby the justing it to take up slack, as shown and de- 10 parts are locked by turning the lever until the scribed. curved end of the catch passes beyond or 5 around its pivotal bearings, as specified.

2. The combination, with the post, the ful- \Vitnesses: erumed lever, the gate-bar E, and wires 1), of AMOS W. HART, the catch G,which is slotted lengthwise, screws ERROL E. HART.

' THEODOR RUEDIGER. 

